Sunday, January 29, 2017

Vikings 4.19: On the Verge of History

Vikings 4.19 pitches us onto the verge of the ultimate battle - at least, ultimate for this season - between the invading, revenge-seeking sons of Ragnar, and King Eckbert's chosen defending leader, his own son Aethelwulf. The final scene is fine classic: Aethelwulf and what's left of his army, ravaged by Ivar's clever appear-and-run strategy, finally charging headlong into the Vikings.

Based on what we've seen, there's no way, short of a bolt from the blue that destroys the Vikings, for Aethelwulf to win this. History, for those who want to consult it, is unclear in how it relates to this battle. In general, we're told the Vikings were not that much of a threat to Wessex in Aethelwulf time - clearly not exactly the case in this television portrayal, certainly not in a psychological sense. And we're told that Aethelwulf did fight two battles with the Vikings, the first in Carhampton to the east, the second on the Thames, and that he was defeated in the first, won the second, and obviously therefore did not lose his life in either.

Clearly, if his penultimate episode is any indication, there's no way that Aethewulf can win it. And frankly, it's hard to see at this point how he'll even survive. The circumstances of his survival in this coming week's episode therefore should be interesting indeed. Who among the Vikings will save him? How and why? My guess is Ivar may surprisingly choose not to kill Aethewulf, who after all was not the one really responsible for Ragnar's death. But we'll see.

Meanwhile, Lagertha's holding forth back home is fun to see, but adds little to the historical tapestry in England which is the centerpiece of this story. For that reason, I regret Lagertha not being part of this expedition. But we'll see how at least some of this turns out this coming week.

About Me

Paul Levinson, PhD, is Professor of Communication &
Media Studies at Fordham University in New York City.His 8 nonfiction books, including The Soft Edge (1997),
Digital McLuhan (1999), Realspace (2003), Cellphone (2004), and New New Media (2009, 2nd edition 2012), have been the
subject of major articles in the New York Times, Wired, the Christian Science
Monitor, and have been translated into 12 languages. His science fiction novels include The Silk Code (1999, ebook 2012), Borrowed Tides (2001), TheConsciousness Plague (2002, 2013), The Pixel Eye (2003), The Plot To SaveSocrates (2006, ebook 2012), and Unburning Alexandria (2013).His short stories
have been nominated for Nebula, Hugo, Edgar, and Sturgeon Awards.Paul Levinson appears on "The
O'Reilly Factor" (Fox News), "The CBS Evening News,"“NewsHour with Jim Lehrer” (PBS),“Nightline” (ABC), NPR, and numerous
national and international TV and radio programs. His 1972 album, Twice Upon a Rhyme, was re-issued in 2009 (CD) and 2010 (remastered vinyl). He reviews the best of
television in his InfiniteRegress.tv blog, and was listed in The Chronicle of
Higher Education’s “Top 10 Academic Twitterers” in 2009.

e-mail received from a reader:Dear Paul, I just dreamed of airships flying between raindrops. I just returned from 2042 CE, where I sold my hardcover copy of The Plot to Save Socrates for seventy million Neo-Euros, because it had your response to this e-mail from way back in 2007 scotch-taped onto the inside of the cover. A Paul Levinson collector paid top Neo-Euro, because of the authentic archaic e-mail printout from you. It turns out that not many of your e-mails from before your tenure as CEO of HBO/Cinemax and terms as United Nations Secretary General will survive that far into the future. So, please respond to this e-mail, to help found my great-grandchildren's fortune. My Will will stipulate that they must share with your great grandchidren. Thanks! Tom